Cadbury rounds out bigger offering

Four years after shrinking its most popular chocolate, triggering a backlash from consumers, confectionery giant Cadbury is upsizing.

Cadbury, a subsidiary of Kraft Foods, has increased the size of its Cadbury Dairy Milk block by 10 per cent to 220 grams while maintaining its recommended retail price.

The new 220-gram block is smaller than the 250-gram product that was on the shelves until 2009, when Cadbury shrank packs by 20 per cent in an attempt to recoup higher cocoa prices.

Cadbury has also introduced rounder chocolate pieces, used whole nuts instead of pieces and improved packaging in an attempt to add value in a category that has been targeted by retailers’ private-label brands.

“The changes are in direct response to people telling us they love the new shaped chocolate pieces and whole nuts," Cadbury’s general manager of marketing,
Ben Wicks
, said.

The dome-shaped chocolate pieces more easily rolled around the roof the mouth, he said, while a new resealable pack made the chocolate easier to peel, reseal and store.

Branded grocery manufacturers are under increasing pressure to add value and innovate to defend their market share from private-label brands.

While Cadbury, Nestlé and Lindt dominate the chocolate block category,
Woolworths
and Coles have introduced private-label varieties that sell at a 40 to 50 per cent discount.